Dundee United hope to sign Hearts striker Conor Sammon on an emergency loan deal.
The Tangerines are keen to boost their attack by hooking Sammon as they go toe-to-toe with Hibs in the Championship title race.
Formal discussions have been held with the Tynecastle club regarding the 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international.
Negotiations continued last night and, all going well, Sammon will join United before Saturday’s home match against St Mirren.
He has played nine times for his country and his previous clubs include Kilmarnock, Wigan and Derby County.
The deal would be along the same lines as the one that has taken Kris Commons from Celtic to Hibs and would finish mid-January.
There would then be scope to extend the loan until the end of the season.
United boss Ray McKinnon wasn’t naming names but did confirm that work is going on to sign a striker.
“We are actively looking to see if there is anything out there,” he said.
“At the moment we would like to bring one player into a certain area of the team.
“That is well documented and it is where our focus is.
“On top of that, I would strengthen the team as much as I can.
“It just comes down to whether I can do it or not.”
If the Sammon deal goes through, though, McKinnon could drop his interest in trialist frontman Felitciano Zschusschen, who has gone back to the Netherlands in the meantime.
The United boss confirmed: “He is back home in Holland and we are now considering whether to bring him back across or not.
“We were going to get him here for the development game against Hearts but I have a decision to make.”
